The Magister has performed very well in all its test flights. We determined that my original installation of the rubber band holding the support brace center up toward the fuselage should not be doubled as it pulls the rear wheels to far away from the fuselage. This makes the nose wheel low and the plane is difficult to get airborn off grass. After wrapping the rubber band around the metal wire and the connecting it to the plastic fuselage post, the Magister takes off from grass easily.

The 1900mAh packs produce short flights when some wind is present. We got about 5-7 minute flights depending upon aerobatics performed. I wanted to try a Lithium upgrade like the 3-cell Kokam 3.2AH pack which would provide 150% flight time with 2-cells more power and an incredible weight loss of 6.5oz! Unfortunitly, the Multiplex ESC is only rated for 6-8 cells so it requires an ESC swap as well.

Another alternative is to buy an 8-cell 2400mAh NiCd pack for longer flights. The CP2400 NiCd pack weighs only about 1oz more than the 1900mAh pack. Further, you could buy a 3300mAh NiMH pack as well since the Multiplex charger that comes with the Magister works with NiMH packs.

Video coming soon with grass and pavement take-offs...